Case in point Danger Mouse; I loved that show as a kid. Bought the whole series on dvd, watched it with a fellow danger mouse fan. We made it through a few episodes and realized it was a lot better in our memories. I left the DVDs with him.

I had the same experience with that show. Loved it as a kid, bought it on DVD, watched maybe 3 episodes and put it away probably forever.

Kung Fu Hustle - What a truly bizarre movie. Totally batshit crazy. I was loving the hell out of it for a while. It's so amazingly disarming that it's almost impossible not to shake your head and smile for the first 30 minutes. But then it keeps going. And going. And going. I found myself checking the clock, which I never do when watching movies. The craziness actually started getting boring. Perhaps if the movie had taken a step back after that first 30 minutes and allowed our brains a chance to revert to normal, I would have enjoyed it more. Maybe there are those who can handle the zaniess non-stop for that long. But it's not me.I'll give them credit for sure. The fight scenes are well choreographed and fun to watch. The humor is so left field, and off the wall, that you either love it, or hate it. I fall in the camp of loving it for awhile, then growing tired of it.I think it's still worth seeing. Just go in knowing this is not a normal kung fu movie.

Case in point Danger Mouse; I loved that show as a kid. Bought the whole series on dvd, watched it with a fellow danger mouse fan. We made it through a few episodes and realized it was a lot better in our memories. I left the DVDs with him.

I had the same experience with that show. Loved it as a kid, bought it on DVD, watched maybe 3 episodes and put it away probably forever.

Case in point Danger Mouse; I loved that show as a kid. Bought the whole series on dvd, watched it with a fellow danger mouse fan. We made it through a few episodes and realized it was a lot better in our memories. I left the DVDs with him.

I had the same experience with that show. Loved it as a kid, bought it on DVD, watched maybe 3 episodes and put it away probably forever.

My volume 2 is still shrink wrapped.

All I remember about Danger Mouse was that it seemed like a pale imitation of Underdog. But then again, I remember waking up at the crack o' fucking dawn to watch Rocky and Bullwinkle (and Beast Wars, but I stayed up for Rocky and Bullwinkle at least) so I might still have some tolerance for DM left over.

The Hobbit -Hmm. Where do I start? At the beginning, I suppose. The beginning of this movie in which I find the only real fault. It starts slow. But it makes sense considering all that they have to introduce in order to get the journey going. Once we get through that initial phase, and the caravan gets on the road, it's quite the adventure. Way more so than I was anticipating. I suppose it helps that I read the book what feels like ages ago, and don't remember a single thing about it. This is all new to me! I don't have to nitpick about who or what is missing! I love it. The movie looks incredible, as expected. Just like the LOTR films, if a tad bit sharper. 10 years of tech will do that. The movie sounds great, too, although a bit TOO much like the LOTR films. I was hoping for a more unique, or restrained, soundtrack, to reflect the (supposed)smaller scope of the movie, but that's not what we got. It's still good, but not one I'll be buying, unlike all the LOTR soundtracks.Martin Freeman is perfect as Bilbo, as I expected him to be. He's got this unique way about him that is well suited to this role. The dwarves are mostly just there besides Thorin, who is played with suitable kingliness by Richard Armitage. Ian McKellan IS Gandalf, and always will be. He's amazing.We get all sorts of action and adventure, filled with legions of Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Wargs(giant wolves), and a few I was totally not expecting. Gollum makes a great appearance in a fun test with Bilbo. I daresay we got TOO much fighting and action. The battles were intense, but it was hard to keep track of who was fighting what. A breather or two would have been nice. Perhaps a few more quiet moments. There was a distinct lack of any females in this movie, but I know that just how the book was written. It's too bad, because I think it would have been a nice counter to all those dwarves. Overall, it was a fun movie, and I look forward to part 2, which has much potential.

Very impressive movie. Between MIB2 and my cynicism towards reboots and revivals, I was prepared for the worst, but it actually turned out to be pretty good. It was funny, it was great to see the character dynamic back, the writing was good most of the time, and the action was clever and well-done. I also loved all the twists, even if a few felt forced, particularly the last one. Visually, it was everything I could hope for from a MIB sequel, and the score was very memorable, even if the vocal songs kinda sucked. The only thing I'm really disappointed in is that they didn't introduce any particularly interesting characters, but at least they didn't introduce any annoying ones. Speaking of which, a part of me misses Frank, but after spending so much time with him in MIB2 (IIRC), I think that's for the best.

Oh, and they didn't introduce any particularly interesting weapons, but I'll live.

So overall, it was a pretty good movie, IMO - certainly one of the best series revivals I've seen in the past few years, and a welcome addition to the series. I just hope we see some new characters if they do a Men in Black 4, maybe do a whole different branch or something. After this, I don't think they can do anything more with these characters, and I mean it this time...

The Hobbit -Hmm. Where do I start? At the beginning, I suppose. The beginning of this movie in which I find the only real fault. It starts slow. But it makes sense considering all that they have to introduce in order to get the journey going. Once we get through that initial phase, and the caravan gets on the road, it's quite the adventure. Way more so than I was anticipating. I suppose it helps that I read the book what feels like ages ago, and don't remember a single thing about it. This is all new to me! I don't have to nitpick about who or what is missing! I love it. The movie looks incredible, as expected. Just like the LOTR films, if a tad bit sharper. 10 years of tech will do that. The movie sounds great, too, although a bit TOO much like the LOTR films. I was hoping for a more unique, or restrained, soundtrack, to reflect the (supposed)smaller scope of the movie, but that's not what we got. It's still good, but not one I'll be buying, unlike all the LOTR soundtracks.Martin Freeman is perfect as Bilbo, as I expected him to be. He's got this unique way about him that is well suited to this role. The dwarves are mostly just there besides Thorin, who is played with suitable kingliness by Richard Armitage. Ian McKellan IS Gandalf, and always will be. He's amazing.We get all sorts of action and adventure, filled with legions of Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Wargs(giant wolves), and a few I was totally not expecting. Gollum makes a great appearance in a fun test with Bilbo. I daresay we got TOO much fighting and action. The battles were intense, but it was hard to keep track of who was fighting what. A breather or two would have been nice. Perhaps a few more quiet moments. There was a distinct lack of any females in this movie, but I know that just how the book was written. It's too bad, because I think it would have been a nice counter to all those dwarves. Overall, it was a fun movie, and I look forward to part 2, which has much potential.

Saw The Hobbit myself earlier today yesterday, and for all intents and purposes, I found the movie enjoyable as well for what it went with.

First things first though, and it really needs to be said for anyone going to see the movie, is that this is a multiparter.

And now for the spoilers:

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Obviously, there really isn't all that much that one can do to extend the Hobbit into something that would require into multiple parts due to the tight pacing of the book. But changing the focus a bit from Bilbo Baggins to Thorin Oakshield and his and his fellow company's quest to reclaim their homeland did just the trick. Beyond the fleshing out of Thorin though it more or less stayed true to the events of the book except to allow the occasional LotR callback(callforward?) and a necromancer subplot which I don't recall ever being a part of The Hobbit (and if this adaption really IS a trilogy then I can expect this necromancer subplot to kill a lot of time in the second movie).

Beyond that though there's a surprising amount of singing from a company of hairy/smelly dwarves. I will be greatly disappointed if nobody breaks out into a rendition of They Call Him Bilbo Baggins.

The Hobbit:I liked it. Even watched it in the higher frame rate and 3D. It was interesting to see certain things like how Bilbo obtained the ring (obviously), and how Gandalf obtained his sword. Frodo's cameo was lame, obviously just a moment for Elijah Wood to make some money and generate interest in his career since he's been so busy since, right? I'm a little bothered at how normal most of the (important) dwarves looked though. Just seemed....cheap I guess. It's also sad to see how old Ian Mckellan looks in this movie. With those nitpicks mentioned, the movie was well done. The fight scenes were astounding in the higher frame rate, like watching a video game cutscene. The story waa eaay to follow, and everyone was very eaay to understand. In the previous movies, I could barely understand Gandalf at times, and Aragorn talmed like some emo kid, whispered everywhere...and don't get me started on the other hobbits. The one thing I have to warn about is DON'T MISS THE SMEAGLE AND BILBO HAPPY FUNTIME GAME. It's funny. Also, since when was it required to have 3 years theatrical singing experience to join a party for an adventure? (watch the film, you'll get the joke)

I finally saw Ted with my bandmates earlier this week. Yeah, we decided to watch Ted in lieu of practicing since none of us had seen it. Definitely an enjoyable movie. I still wonder how many takes Mila Kunis had to say some of her lines without cracking up, especially the one along the lines of

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You used me as an excuse to ditch work and go get high with your teddy bear!"

The credits to "The Fellowship of the Ring" are rolling as I type. I've not been Tolkien's biggest fan in the past -- I found the morality and too black and white and the characters a bit flat -- but I was a fan of his world-building and beautifully described environments (and Aragorn), and given the influence that LotR has had on fantasy novels and video games that I love I decided that I should grab the movies and watch them to prepare me for another run through of the book. I felt that at the very least I would enjoy the visual spectacle (there are few things I love more than the beauty of nature) and would also get a look into the visual influence of the movies on some recent games. I was pretty impressed, I must say. The visual splendor was there, the music was great, and it also - surprisingly - managed to pull at the right emotional strings when it wanted to. I look forward to seeing the next two some time soon.

By the way, sorry for the essay but writing this stuff out helps me clear out my head.

The Sting - ***1/2/4I've never been one for heist flicks. I'm not really sure why, but I just don't like them. I didn't really like this much until it clicked about halfway through.The problem I had initially was the off putting music. It just felt way too goofy sounding for what was to be(presumably) a serious movie. Even after viewing the whole thing, I still think it didn't fit.In the end, though, it's all about great acting, and somehow pulling off an impossible scenario. A scenario that even sort of fooled me, although I did have some doubts early on.I like how they let the viewer in on only some of what is planned, leading us to wonder exactly what is going on. That really is the fun of it, and why I rate it quite high(for me, anyway).Great movie.

The Hobbit looked like it was playing in fast forward in 48 fps and the storyline had no resolution for anything. I mean, even in Fellowship of the Ring there was a resolution for the fellowship, and Boromir. For the Hobbit, it really shows that it's one book split into three movies.